The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. One of the first films to really set the stage for the Torture Porn genre, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was a pretty shocking film for its time. With teenagers getting hung on meathooks and a psychopath wearing someone else’s face while chasing people down with a chainsaw, it was enough to make 70’s audiences run from the theatre screaming.

Bite. Meant to be an homage to David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’ this 2015 film by Canadian director Chad Archibald had audiences gagging. The story is about a woman’s bachelorette party in Costa Rica, that gets derailed when she’d bitten by a bug and starts to take on traits of the insect. The combination of body horror and gruesome imagery had 2 people fainting, several vomiting and a score of audience members leaving the theatre completely at the Fantasia Film Festival. They did, however, have branded barf bags available, so the outcome wasn’t that much of a surprise.

The Exorcist. This one had to be on the list, as it plays on all our fears, especially if you were raised to believe in God and demons. During it’s premiere in London, audiences found themselves fainting and stampeding out of the theatre. Despite those initial reactions, it’s still one of the most popular horror films of all time.

Caligula. The only film ever produced by Penthouse, this is an orgy of blood, cruel and unstimulated sex, so much so that revered film critic Robert Ebert didn’t even make it through the entirety of the picture. What was meant as a historical and satirical epic about the Emperor Caligula, was recut in post production as a 2 and a half hour historical porn film, and other than the most hardcore voyeurs, most average filmgoers couldn’t handle this film.

Audition. This Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 1999 and sent audiences heaving into the aisles and out the door. The film is about a man who holds auditions for a new wife. The woman he choses, unbeknownst to him, has a habit of cutting off body parts with piano wire, sticking needles into eyes, and even forcing someone to eat something she’s thrown up. Understandably, some audience members were upset.

The Evil Dead. The original one’s a classic, and anyone seeing it for the first time will know at which point most audiences will walk out at; tree rape. Not sure what people were expecting with a name like Evil Dead, but that scene was too much for them, and they left. That’s what happens when you have an isolated cabin, a possessed book and Bruce Campbell.

Evil Dead. Fede Alvarez’s remake of the Raimi classic obviously had to ramp up the drama and this one had graphic scenes of possession, self-mutilaton and a lot of vomit. At it’s premiere at SXSW in 2013, the soundtrack of the film was accentuated by a different sound; feet leaving. The producers, however, consider it a win.

The Human Centipede. If you’re not familiar with this one, you’ve probably been under a rock somewhere. Let’s just say, a sadistic scientist/doctor wants to sew 3 folks together ass to mouth, just to see what happens. It’s a pretty gruesome concept and a lot of people had objections to the subject matter. Though not enough it seems, since two sequels were made.

The Hills Have Eyes. It seems like in the late 00’s, everyone was trying to remake classic horror films and trying to make them more shocking, and this one didn’t disappoint. Directed by Alexander Aja, the film has a family break down in an isolated part of the desert where a mutant family live. As they’re terrorized, some disturbing stuff happens including a woman breastfeeding a mutant baby while hers is being held at gunpoint and even the family dogs aren’t spared. This was too much for the audience and they left the premiere in droves.

Irreversible. Even though this film has a graphic scene of violence and rape, that wasn’t the reason why audiences left the theatre in droves. Director Gaspar Noe admits using a 27 hertz frequency of bass that can’t be picked up by the human ear during the movie’s first 30 minutes. Known as infrasound, it’s been known to induce panic and anxiety in people and in the case of this film, made them want to leave.

Martyrs. Part of the new French Wave Extremity movement, this is a violent and graphic film of two women looking for revenge on their abusers. Much like most films of this genre, the graphic violence and blood was just too much for audiences and while some enjoyed it, most thought it was just too much.

V/H/S. At it’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012, some of the segments of this film about a group of criminals that come across VHS tapes in a creepy old house, made people dash from the theatre to throw up their dinners.

The Blair Witch Project. The combination of shaky cam footage and the copious amounts of moment, led to viewers getting ill and vomiting in their seats, aisles and some even made it out to the lobby. Despite being one of the most profitable films in history, if you can’t handle a little motion, you won’t make it through this film

Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino’s known for some gruesome scenes and shocking moments, especially in ‘Pulp Fiction,’ but it’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’ that holds the destination of making people walk out, especially with the ear cutting scene. Supposedly this even made Wes Craven walk out. That’s saying something. Dunno about you, but every time I hear “Stuck in the Middle With You,” I want curl into ball and hold my ears.

Raw. The most recent entry, this 2016 film played at Cannes, but got the most attention at this years Toronto International Film Festival, when several moviegoers fainted and required paramedics. It’s not hard to see why. The film’s about a vegetarian who’s forced to eat raw meat as an act of bullying and becomes a cannibal. The graphic scenes were too much for the more delicate moviegoers, and those that didn’t vomit, left.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Based off of a book by the Marquis de Sade, this is one sadistic picture. Taking place in Facist Italy after the war, it goes to great lengths to shock the viewer with rape, mutilation, violence and even some ingestion of feces. It’s one of the more commonly walked out films. Surprisingly enough, it’s also on some critic’s best lists, so you have to wonder about what happens when you watch too many scary and disturbing films.

127 Hours. This one is a no brainer. Most people can make it as far as the crucial scene when Aaron decides to free himself, but the way that scene is shot, had a lot of people running for the parking lot. Despite that gruesome scene, the film is a fantastic representation of Aaron Ralston’s ordeal being trapped by his arm under a boulder, and this remains one of my favourite Danny Boyle films.

The Devil’s Rejects. This Rob Zombie sequel to “The House of 1000 Corpses” dials down the shock factor a little bit, but is still disturbing enough that a lot of people went running for the exits before the credits started. Continuing the story of the murderous Firefly Clan, who’s taking their murder spree on the road, critics call the film gratuitous and relentless.

Freaks. If you were to look at a list of the most shocking films in history, this would be on that list. Not so much for the subject matter, although circus freaks looking for revenge isn’t exactly a love story, but the fact that director Tod Browning actually used real carnival sideshow actors with deformities. It’s a shame the original film is lost, it’d be interesting to see. It was these missing limbs and bizarre subject matter that made people walk out en masse, and even prompted one lady to try to claim that the film was so scary it caused her to lose her baby.

The Passion of the Christ. Growing up Catholic, nothing in this film should have come as a surprise; you’ve heard it all your life. But the scenes of Jesus’ punishment and crucifixion at the hands of the Romans was too much for some viewers and they had to leave, citing the violence as being too much. Apparently one woman and a massive heart attack during the final sequence of the film. Usually if someone reads the book first, the movie version doesn’t surprise.

Psycho. What’s not to like with this one? You’ve got your heroine who dies in the first 20 minutes, a creepy man who lives with his mother, oh and also dresses like his mother. This one was too shocking for the 1960 audiences, that people fainted, ran out of the cinemas and claimed to have nightmares about a man in a wig. Personally, this is one of my favourite films of all time, but understandably, while we think tame in comparison now, back then, this was scary stuff.

The Walk. This one isn’t even a horror film, but it had audiences leaving due to the scenes of the tightrope walking between the World Trade Centre Towers. Audiences complained of vertigo and that the perspective of Philippe Petit’s walk was too much for them to handle.

The Witch. This film walks a fine line between being terrifyingly scary and and incredibly boring, giving movie goers two reasons to want to leave. While some loved this moody atmospheric film about a New England Puritan family encountering a witch, other thought it too slow and left halfway though.

The Lion King. Finally, this little gem. Even though it’s a Disney film, the death scene of Mufasa getting trampled by the wildebeest made kids run for the exits, with their parents behind them. The tragedy of this moment was so great that kids were heartbroken and crying and some screenings were halted until kids could be calmed down.